Man accused of pimping Filipino

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A Polytechnic University researcher is accused of recruiting a Filipino man to come to Hong Kong to work as a prostitute and of living off his earnings.

Wan Cho-yiu, 32, yesterday pleaded not guilty at the District Court to five charges, including human trafficking, living off the earnings from prostitution and drug possession.

Prosecutors said Wan had told police earlier that he had met Colegio Parker Bolanio online, paid for his air ticket to Hong Kong in December last year and taken 35 per cent of his earnings for over a week.

The court heard that on Boxing Day last year, a pedestrian saw a man calling out from an apartment on Changsha Street in Mong Kok. Concerned for the man's safety, the passer-by called the police.

When officers arrived at the flat they found Bolanio and Wan, prosecuting barrister Ivy Lau Yan-yan said.

During a search, police found condoms, lubricant, the drug Ice, drug paraphernalia and eight tablets of the sleeping pill zopiclone - a controlled substance.

Lau said that when police interviewed Wan, he told them he had met Bolanio, a Filipino man willing to provide sex services in Thailand, on a website called PlanetRomeo.com.

He provided Bolanio with a ticket to fly to Hong Kong and paid for his accommodation and food.

'He and Bolanio reached an agreement over the internet that 35 per cent of Bolanio's earnings from providing sex services would be given to the defendant as commission,' Lau said, referring to what Wan allegedly told police during the interview.

However, Wan denied he had held Bolanio against his will, saying the latter had keys to the apartment and could come and go as he pleased, Lau said.

Bolanio arrived on December 16 last year, immigration records show.

Wan denied soliciting clients for Bolanio in Hong Kong and told police he did not know how much money Bolanio had received or how many times he had provided sex services. However, he said he had received HK$2,750 from Bolanio, Lau said.